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Work's still not completely finished on Bramasole, the Tuscan house that
California-based poet and bestselling author Frances Mayes bought a
decade ago and has been fixing up every summer since. Nevertheless, in
Bella Tuscany, she goes out--in search of Italy and Italian life. The
sequel to Under the Tuscan Sun is awash with sensual discovery, from
Sicilian markets with "rainbows of shining fish on ice" to the aqueous
dream of Venice "shimmering in the diluted sunlight." Wherever she is,
Mayes celebrates everyday rituals, such as picking wild asparagus, "dark
spears poking out of the dirt ... stalks as thin as yarn" and driving through
country rains, as "the green landscape smears across the windshield" for
buffalo mozzarella and demijohns of sfuso--bulk wine kept fresh with a
slick of olive oil on top. Mayes also ventures into the world of the locals,
some "bent as a comma" and others throwing six-hour communion feasts
where half a dozen cooks in a barn continually send out heaping platters
of pasta with wild boar sauce, roasted lamb, and even the thigh of a giant
cow--wrapping up the festivities with honeyed vin santo, grappa, and
dancing to the accordion. Capturing the details that enrich the
commonplace, in Bella Tuscany Mayes appears less like a visitor and
more like someone discovering in Tuscany a real home and a real life.
--Melissa Rossi
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From Kirkus Reviews , February 1, 1999
Yes, la dolce vita, but only for some. In the nearly 40 years since Fellini's
film first ushered the expression into our lexicon, said vita has been
drained of all its original sardonic content, its biting irony, and its
social
criticism. This sequel to Mayes's bestselling Under the Tuscan Sun, about
her second home and life reborn in Tuscany, doesn't preserve Fellinis
spirit either, though her account is inevitably charming. Sometimes, too,
a
tad annoying. For the author does occasionally come off (along with her
husband) as cantankerous or supremely unself-conscious. Not
appreciating the cold spring rains in Tuscany, for instance, the lucky
pair
decides, on a whim, to fly to balmy Palermo; on arriving in a hotel room
without a view of that city's justly famous palm trees, gli Americani just
march down to the lobby and demand one. To the accidental Italophile
tourist, gathering water at a scenic town's small fountain may appear a
quaint and rustic practice yet for the ancient women who must daily fetch
and carry large jugs of water balanced atop their heads, the habit is
laborious and boring, alleviated only slightly by the prospect of gossip.
Yet we are finally won over by Mayes. Who could fail to affirm this poets
lush descriptions of the rolling Tuscan hills, with their timeless olive
trees
and patient oxen? Equally beautiful are Mayes's evocations of Italians
as
sincere and welcoming. She realizes that, despite their fame for sweets,
the natives actually enjoy foods with a bitter taste or, as husband Ed
remarks, they "seem to have acquired more tastes than many of us."
Other factual tidbits include a survey of the etymology of the Sangiovese
grapeused for Chianti, Brunello, and Vino Nobileas deriving from the
"blood of Jove." Lovely, and no small consolation to anyone who's far
from Tuscany. (Second serial to National Geographic Traveler;
$175,000 ad/promo; author tour) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus
Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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Book Description
Frances Mayes, whose enchanting #1 New York Times bestseller
Under the Tuscan Sun made the world fall in love with Tuscany, invites
us back for a delightful new season of friendship, festivity, and food
there
and throughout Italy.
Happiness? The color of it must be spring green, impossible to
describe until I see a just-hatched lizard sunning on a stone. That
color, the glowing green lizard skin, repeats in every new leaf. The
regenerative power of nature explodes in every weed, stalk, branch.
Working in the mild sun, I feel the green fuse of my body, too.
Surges of energy, kaleidoscopic sunlight through the leaves, the soft
breeze that makes me want to say the word "zephyr"--this mindless
simplicity can be called happiness.
Having spent her summers in Tuscany for the past several years, Frances
Mayes relished the opportunity to experience the pleasures of primavera,
an Italian spring. A sabbatical from teaching in San Francisco allowed
her
to return to Cortona--and her beloved house, Bramasole--just as the first
green appeared on the rocky hillsides.
Bella Tuscany, a companion volume to Under the Tuscan Sun, is her
passionate and lyrical account of her continuing love affair with Italy.
Now truly at home there, Mayes writes of her deepening connection to
the land, her flourishing friendships with local people, the joys of art,
food, and wine, and the rewards and occasional heartbreaks of her villa's
ongoing restoration. It is also a memoir of a season of change, and of
renewed possibility. As spring becomes summer she revives Bramasole's
lush gardens, meets the challenges of learning a new language, tours
regions from Sicily to the Veneto, and faces transitions in her family
life.
Filled with recipes from her Tuscan kitchen and written in the sensuous
and evocative prose that has become her hallmark, Bella Tuscany is a
celebration of the sweet life in Italy
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Synopsis
Best of the Best. In this follow-up to her bestselling account of her love
affair with Tuscany, Mayes carries forward the concerns and people of
"Under the Tuscan Sun", while exploring new themes: gardening, travel
throughout Italy, deepening friendships with Italians, and primavera, a
new season. Interweaving sections on language, art, food, and wine with
her journeys in Italy, this audio captures what Mayes has called "the
voluptuousness of Italian life" in the lyrical, sensuous style that
distinguishes her previous work. --This text refers to the audio cassette
edition of this title
From the Back Cover
Critical Acclaim for Frances Mayes and Under the Tuscan Sun:
"Tuscany may have found its own bard in Frances Mayes."
--New York Times
"This beautifully written memoir about taking chances, living in Italy,
loving a house, and always, the pleasures of food, would make a perfect
gift for a loved one. But it's so delicious, read it first yourself."
--USA Today
"So enchanting that an armchair traveler will find it hard to resist jumping
out of the chair and following in her footsteps."
--Publishers Weekly
"Graceful . . . at once joyful and full of common sense . . . as intimate
as a
lover's whisper, honest and true."
--San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
"Irresistible . . . a sensuous book for a sensuous countryside."
--Minneapolis Star-Tribune
About the Author
Frances Mayes is author of Under the Tuscan Sun, an Italian memoir;
The Discovery of Poetry, a text for readers; and five books of poetry,
most recently Ex Voto. A frequent contributor to food and travel
publications, she divides her time between Cortona, Italy, and San
Francisco, where she is Professor of Creative Writing at San Francisco
State University. She is currently at work on a novel.
Bella Tuscany : The Sweet Life in Italy by Frances Mayes
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